Page 3 of Viparious

There’s relief breathed into my neck as she hides.

“You’re home. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Supporting her weight with my good arm under her ass, my other hangs limply. My shoulders are shredded, and I keep my face void of any emotion as I feel her safe in my arms. I can breathe easier. The burning eases despite the pressure of her body on mine. Resisting the urge to press my lips into her cheek, I walk into the house.

I’ve never been greeted by my brothers at the door, but they’re standing with the same disbelief as the guards. Dima, Katya, Anastasia, Dani, and Ana are the same, but Viktor is smug and proudly shouts, “Told you Vlad can’t die, he’s the biggest monster there is.”

He doesn’t look angry anymore and Dima isn’t miserable. I’ve known him my entire adult life, he’s a prick I class as a friend, and he becomes a weird fuck as he tries to tell Inessa to leave my arms.

“Let him go. We’ll get a doctor out.”

Ignoring his dumb ass, I keep her in my arms and walk to the elevator. Being rich is helpful as fuck because the thought of taking the stairs has my leg protesting.

Fucking cunts got me three times in the same leg. It wasn’t even purposeful, just lucky shots.

Encased in the elevator, watery eyes stare up at me and Inessa slowly cups my face as her bottom lip wobbles. I only have one arm fully useable and turn, pressing her back into the wall so she’s stable. Holding her chin with my swollen knuckles, I stroke her bottom lip and her voice cracks, trying to convince herself of her thoughts, “It’s other people’s blood?”

I look down, but I can only see my chest and abs against her clean thighs. The adorable brat has stolen one of my t-shirts. My voice is gentle, unlike me.

“Would that make you feel better, meelaya2?”

I don’t like seeing hurt on her features. It’s wrong and doesn’t suit her face. Her tears fall, gutting me, and my shoulder protests as I clumsily try to wipe them away. The dried blood on my hands mixes with them, smudging dirty red on her cheeks. The elevator pings, and my silly queen tries to wriggle away as I kiss the tip of her nose. She pauses at the movement, and I don’t have the energy to stand so lean into her.

Her hands are hesitantly ghosting over my body and worry coats her features as my eyes close.

“Did they drug you?”

“Hm, yeah, they wore off hours ago,” I hum and nod.

She combs her delicate fingers through my hair as the elevator doors close and massages my scalp. Her soothing, gentle voice fills the enclosed space.

“So, why are you being weird then?”

My cheek goes to her shoulder as though it’s natural, and she continues massaging me. It feels good to have the dried blood pushed off my scalp, and I hug her without the use of my arms.

“I’m not being weird. Just stay like this a minute, you feel good.”

My bratty wife never stays quiet, and I open my eyes to see why. She better not be a hallucination. But she’s real and there’s a small smile on her lips that doesn’t match the tears lining her lashes. She’s beautiful even when she’s all snotty.

Her smile doesn’t dim as she softly whispers, “You missed me.”

I nod, forcing energy into the movement.

“Yeah, shut up, so I can stop missing silence.”

She cups my cheek with so much care it nearly chokes me. But she breathes life into me as she softly presses her lips to mine and speaks against my lips.

“You didn’t shout about me wearing your t-shirt in front of the guards.”

I abruptly move back like a Neanderthal with my arms weighed down. She’s wearing one of my t-shirts and nothing else. I wish she had on her ugly-ass orange tabby cat pants. My voice lacks its usual heat as I look from her bare legs to her dark eyes alight with amusement.

“You better have shorts on underneath, or we’re going to be down an entire security team.”

Her smile gets wider, and she does the same as me, losing her ire.

“I love when you speak murder to me. It makes me feel warm inside.”

Holding her tighter, she chokes my hips with her thighs, and I lean into her, dispelling any notion she doesn’t love this.

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